Swift Retribution
by Ellie DC
Summary: Isobel manipulated John Gilbert into having Elijah killed at the hands of the Salvatores.  All on Klaus' orders, of course. Betrayals are common and secrets are spilled as the Salvatores get closer to the truth, but they quickly find an unlikely ally.
1. Square One

**A/N: Hi all, this is my first story! No ships here (yet!), but some plot twists involving lots of double crosses and going to unlikely characters for help. I see this as a continuation of Stefan and Damon's conversation at the end of "Know Thy Enemy." Enjoy, and let me know what you think. **

"We're the only ones who know." Stefan shot his brother an intense stare, silent conveying all the possibilities of that information.

Never slow on the uptake, Damon nodded back. "That literally makes Bonnie our secret weapon." Momentarily sure that one thing had indeed gone right that day, the brothers clinked their glasses together and sat back to go through all the betrayals and double crosses of the day.

"I wish there was some way to know how long Isobel was under Klaus's compulsion," Stefan mused.

"Well, she's a pile of ash now. Wishing won't get you any answers." Damon wasn't exactly in mourning; even if it mattered to him that he was the one who turned Isobel, any emotion he might have felt for her was erased by the sheer annoyance she had brought into his life. He hadn't forgotten the events of Founder's Day, how she was the one who ransomed the Gilbert device and sent Katherine back to Mystic Falls.

Stefan was far too used to Damon's flippant attitude to bother commenting on it. "No, but it would help us figure out when we were being manipulated. Did we do something because it was a good idea, or because _Klaus _thought it was a good idea?"

Damon thought about it for a minute, clearly unhappy with being reminded of their recent fight to keep Elena alive. Different images came to his mind: the warlocks chasing the werewolves out of town, Elijah killing the rest; getting the moonstone out of the tomb, only for Katherine to steal it back – who knew where it was now. Finding out the warlocks wanted to kill Klaus with magic, which would only work after the sacrifice, making it not viable as an option; and finally, a bleeding Elena eliminating their second-biggest threat as she stabbed Elijah through the heart with a dagger dipped in white oak ash.

Stefan made to pour them each another drink. He could see in his brother's eyes that Damon was taking his words seriously, and he was pleased beyond words that they were actually working together. Of course, if he ever did put that thought into words, Damon would brush it off and change the subject, so he just kept those thoughts to himself.

When Damon finally spoke, it was in a measured voice. "Ok, so we're down one magical moonstone, thanks to Katherine – knew I couldn't trust that bitch! But she was terrified of Klaus; she definitely wasn't working for him."

"No, but Isobel _was._ I know it's hard to think that Katherine could be tricked by anybody, but Isobel learned from the best. Whatever she was involved in, we have to assume was compromised."

"Well, at least we killed Elijah before Isobel showed up to make a mess of things. Her and Uncle Daddy over there. I don't care if Elena wants to give him a chance, I still don't trust him." Stefan glanced sharply up at Damon, as a thought struck him. He waited while Damon kept ranting about John before deciding to interrupt, as Damon was only building up more steam. "_And_ now the Council knows that we've been holding out on them, since I told them about his ring-"

"Damon-"

"There is serious damage control to be done, you're not gonna give him a pass on all-"

"No, but-"

"Oh, don't you 'No, but!' me, Stefan! Stop with those, what are you, five?"

"Damon, listen to me! How did we kill Elijah? _With the dagger that John gave you!"_ Stunned silence followed Stefan's revelation as the implications started to sink in. Seeing he had at last gotten through, Stefan raised an eyebrow, willing his brother to consider that this could change everything.

However, Damon wouldn't get worked up so easily over something he considered over and done with. Elijah was dead, because of them. "What are you saying? If there's one thing you and Elena want me to believe about him, it's that he wants to protect her. Guess what? Us killing the big bad Original did exactly that!"

Realizing Damon had a point, Stefan wandered over to the fireplace to give himself time to come up with an explanation, a rebuttal, _anything _to shake the nagging feeling that he was still missing something. Yes, Elijah had helped them all out of some pretty tough spots, but what really mattered was that Elena wasn't included in that protection. If Bonnie and Jeremy hadn't gotten the truth from Luka, Elena could easily be dead by now.

He thought back to when he finally got the details of their little negotiations out of her, and still felt a pang that she would rather die than let them fight for her and, worse still, tried so hard to keep this a secret from him. He went through a stage of denial at first, trying to convince himself that the Original had compelled her, or coerced her in some way. Failing that, he resorted to thinking Elena had been deceived, but she was adamant that the words he'd spoken had been the truth. Cunning he may be, but even Stefan grudgingly had to admit that he had never caught Elijah in a lie, showing some honor as well.

Just like that, he was back to square one. Damon seemed to feel some of the frustration coming off him in waves, so he said, "What's on you mind, little brother?"

At a loss for anything else to say, Stefan decided this one time on the simple truth. "I feel like we're back to square one. I thought we had an opening, but just like that, it's gone."

_Just like that… _Something Elena had told him was prickling the back of his mind, begging to be brought forth to be examined. They had dissected every word and phrase Elijah had uttered, trying to think of all the possible double meanings and half-truths, so his exact words were etched into Stefan's brain. _And then I kill him. Just like that? Just like that. _

"He wanted to kill Klaus." The nagging feeling had turned to triumph, now that the missing piece had fallen into place, bringing with it sudden clarity and a big-picture view of the situation.

"Of course he does, I _just_ said that the one thing he seems to be telling the truth about is protecting his daughter-"

"Not John, _Elijah! _Elena said that he wanted to draw Klaus out to get the chance to kill him."

"So?" Damon interjected, "We know all that already! How is this helping?"

"Just bear with me a minute." Stefan felt he was on a roll. "John helps us kill Elijah, thinking it'll protect Elena. It still leaves Klaus wanting to sacrifice Elena, so it's not exactly the best plan, and John should know that."

"Yea, but with Elijah's plan, he was still going to sacrifice Elena, since that would weaken Klaus." Damon seemed determined to poke hole through Stefan's plan, but he didn't mind. Having his brother serve as Devil's advocate would make sure he didn't miss anything.

"According to Luka. If Jonas had found the burial ground, he would have been as powerful as Bonnie, and she can kill him with magic. _And _that's assuming Elijah told them his entire plan, which, come on. You expect the guy to share his plan with a teenage boy?"

Damon had that glint of hope back in his eyes, which prompted Stefan to continue, "And come to think of it, do we really think John _happened_ to find found this lost and centuries-old dagger just when we need it? You know damn well that Klaus would want to keep track of it."

"Hell yea, I know I would. And if Isobel's been working for Klaus, it makes her the link between him and John." Damon was finally starting to wish that Isobel wasn't dead, if only so that he could be the one to murder her for her actions. Compelled or not, she was still an annoyance, meddling where no one wanted her.

With a surge of anger, Damon bit out, "He wouldn't just let a newbie vampire make off with such a powerful weapon and give it to us to kill him! He can't be that _stupid_!" If there's one thing Damon could understand, even admire in an opponent, it was self-preservation. He couldn't reconcile the Klaus they had been hearing about with someone who could make careless mistakes.

Stefan had a thought, but it was almost to frightening to voice aloud. He forced himself to spit it out, wishing he was wrong; wishing all of his logic didn't point him directly to this conclusion. "Unless he did it on purpose…"

"Why would Klaus want us to have the only weapon that can be used against him?"

"Because now we can't use it against him! Don't you see? If this was all planned, then the only 'weapon that can be used against him' is useless, because it's keeping Elijah dead! And what if Elijah was telling the truth when he said he was going to kill Klaus? Then-"

"Then it means that we did Klaus' dirty work for him: get rid of his two biggest threats and make ourselves vulnerable," Damon said darkly. Self-preservation, indeed.

"We got played."


	2. Coming Clean

**A/N: **Wanted to post this sooner rather than later. I haven't seen the new episode yet, as I'm trying to not be _too _influenced by the show. I now have an idea where I'm going with the 'ship pairings. And THANK YOU so much for the reviews last chapter, it was great and more than I expected! Hope you like this!

As Elena walked through the front door of the boarding house, she felt like she had instead wandered right into the middle of a hornet's nest. The tension that filled the air buzzed around her head, causing the muscles in her shoulders to clench. She wondered what the hell was going on, but Stefan had refused to tell her anything over the phone, and had additionally sworn her to secrecy. She rather doubted that she would be able to keep something from Bonnie and Jeremy for very long. They each knew her so well, and that fact that they were together nearly all the time now meant that they had even more time to talk about her.

The detached, logical part of her brain knew that it was for her benefit. She would be a fool to be mad at people who loved her unconditionally, and had no qualms about showing it. However, the louder, more emotional part of her was annoyed at being kept in the dark so often, and insulted by the way they all treated her like a child. Sure, it may have been irrational, but what was the precedent for trying to stay alive when vampires were continuously trying to kill her?

She contained the desperate emotions so that she could at least _pretend _to be composed in front of Stefan and Damon. Things were strained enough as it was; no use adding her feelings of inadequacy to the mix.

"So, mind telling me why I'm here? It wasn't easy getting away from John, so I'm trying not to stay out too long." Her biological father had taken their previous conversation completely the wrong way. He seemed to have interpreted "trying not to hate him," as an excuse to try to suck up to her and get into her good graces. It would have been endearing, if it weren't so suffocating and unnecessary.

"Since when do you follow a curfew?" Damon asked, his nose wrinkling in distaste at the last word. The thought of being told when it was ok to go outside was an alien concept to him, one which he obviously held in contempt.

"I don't," she defended. "He knows I'm here and…_asked _me to stay safe and come home soon. He didn't even try to order me around. I think that's progress." She couldn't believe she was so close to complimenting him, but things really were easier when he wasn't trying to fight her every step of the way.

"Doesn't sound like he'll be getting a World's Best Dad coffee mug anytime soon. Anyway, enough about him, we have some evil plotting to do. Come on." She followed him into the main living room, where Stefan was pacing restlessly in front of the fireplace, with the air of a man steeling himself to do a difficult – or unwanted – task. Most of the anxiety in the air seemed to be radiating off him, and she quickly pulled him over to her and seated them on a couch together. Damon took up the restless pacing.

They began to fill her in on their earlier breakthroughs, and the careful way they took their turns when going over it all told her they had practiced this. Elena had learned to be suspicious whenever they were working together too well, and made a mental note of the way they didn't leave her any opening to question their conclusions. When they reached the part about the dagger being part of a greater setup, she considered them carefully.

"Ok, you're obviously leaving something out, and this was way too rehearsed, which means you're scared of my reaction to something. What did you do?"

Stefan started rubbing soothing circles into her back, and normally the familiar touch would have calmed her shaky nerves, but today she wanted answers, not comfort. She shifted in her seat so that she could take hold of his hand, conveying that she still wanted the closeness, but halting his attempts to placate her.

If Damon noticed anything, he didn't let it show, choosing instead to answer her question. "Do? Nothing yet. That's why we're gonna have a little pow-wow, share our feelings, and then…"

Stefan took over, sounding like he was trying to be the voice of reason, which was kind of pointless because he had clearly already made up his mind about whatever they were about to tell her. "We're in a bad place. Klaus knows almost everything we know and the things we do, and there's a really good chance we played right into his plans. We need to get out from under his thumb-"

"Without him realizing what we're doing," Damon cut in.

"And come up with our _own _plans," Stefan finished resolutely. "You wanted us to do things your way. I should have realized this before, but no more you versus us, trying to protect each other. Let's figure this out together, and do something we can all agree on.

What was this? Elena felt that Stefan's little speech towards her had been all wrong, making her seem like the unreasonable bad guy. Wasn't that always Damon's role? He was the one who usually had to be talked down from doing something stupid. Or perhaps this was just what happened when she demanded to be included in all of the plans.

She glanced up at Damon, signaling that she was tired of being talked at, and just spit it out already. He obliged with his usual smirk. "Klaus played us like a fiddle, and he's feeling pretty good. It's not too late to undo some of it. Let's get _him _worried again, get him scared that we'll use the dagger on him."

"NO, Damon, you can't!" Were they stupid? The dagger was currently keeping Elijah dead! They haven't found any other way of destroying him, and Katherine said they never would, because he was indestructible. Using the dagger would mean-

"Oh yes, we can. You're the one who told us that Elijah wants to kill Klaus. Well, let's notstop him from carrying out his grand master plan!"

She turned back to Stefan, silently appealing to him to let her in on the joke. When he met her confused and scared look with his own steady gaze, she jumped up and exploded, "After all you did to kill him, what _I _did; we're going to just revive him? Do you forget I had to gut myself with a knife in order to stab him? I can't go through that again!"

The quick look that passed between the brothers told her that she was reacting exactly how they predicted, which just made her temper reach even higher. "There's no deal anymore! How do you know he won't just kill everyone? That can't happen, I won't _let _you!"

"Elena, come here," Stefan said, coaxing her to sit back down on the couch with him. "We have no intentions of just waking him up to do his own thing. We have a plan. We thought about this for a long time, and do you really think I'd do something that could get me taken from you?"

Hope flared in her eyes as she processed his words. Maybe her boyfriend soothing her with patient words and soft touches wasn't really all that bad, after all. She still wanted to know more, so when asked about this plan of theirs, Damon responded, "Well, it's not so much a plan as a…proposition. We all want Klaus dead; we can actually use Isobel's triple-whatever cross against him, by finder her contact and feeding them the wrong information."

"It makes sense for Klaus to still be keeping an eye on us, and we can even get John to help, too. He probably has an idea who Isobel was communicating with." Softening his tone, he gazed into Elena's eyes and said, "If this works, there's no sacrifice, no more Klaus, and we can go back to the way we used to be." He looked so hopeful in that moment that Elena couldn't help but nod, her fluctuating emotions calmed by his steadfast love for her.

Damon was never one to suffer tender moments, especially if they involved his brother and the girl he was trying not to have feelings for, so he brought their attention back to the matter at hand. "Elijah-" he said the name with a sneer- "has a better shot at Klaus if he uses us. And for the record, I highly dislike being used, but I hate being dead-dead even worse, so this is what we're going with."

"Fine!" she conceded. "If this is really our best option, then I'll do it."

"Good, it's about time you started making some _sense._"

"I _mean_, I'm the one pulling the dagger out."

There was the expected amount of shocked reactions to her statement. Damon rolled his eyes, saying, "Or you can, ya know, slip back into insanity mode," just as Stefan burst out, "What? No, you can't!" He looked utterly flabbergasted, like this wasn't all a part of his plan.

"If we're doing this, it'll be my way. He won't kill me or turn me, since I'm still his leverage against Klaus. You guys, though… he'll kill you before we get a chance to explain. There's no reason to believe that our deal is still in place." A quick look at the brothers showed they were still unable to grasp the turn of events that wrenched the conversation from their control. Couldn't they just hear her out before getting all dismissive or, better yet, actually go along with her ideas? It was condescending, and no matter what Stefan said about _working together_, she didn't feel like a part of the team, an equal.

Elena could tell that even though Damon didn't want her anywhere near a starved and pissed off vampire, he accepted her logic, and was probably already thinking of ways to exploit her presence near Elijah, in case he needed to be taken down again. "She has a point. We can watch and make sure it goes smoothly."

"It's just not safe enough for her to be there, what if something goes wrong?" Stefan, ever the protector to her supposed damsel in distress, was so busy trying to sway Damon to his point of view that he didn't even notice Elena stalking down the hallway to the door leading to the basement cells.

"Once you guys are done bickering about my safety and my sanity, come downstairs. I have an Original to wake up."

**Next: **Elijah coming up! Sorry for 2 dialogue-heavy chapters, but I felt it important to establish why they made this decision. Now we can get to the good stuff.


	3. Making An Entrance

**A/N**: Thanks for reading and following along! And a very special thanks to **Dayna Barter**, who helped get the ball rolling for this chapter. If you haven't read her TVD stories yet, definitely check them out.

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><p><em>Pain. <em>It was the first conscious thought that seeped into his mind. He was slow to process it at first; why would he feel pain? There wasn't anything in the world that could hurt him. Then he remembered: the dagger. He was in pain because the dagger was used to kill him. As soon as the thought crossed his mind, he felt a surge of agony explode from the middle of his chest, as his torn flesh starting the healing process of pushing the white oak ash towards the surface. White-hot lances of electricity shot up to his head and landed behind his eyes, while a burning ache spread from his chest, slowly rolling down to the very tips of his extremities. The more his body mended itself, the sharper his senses became, magnifying every feeling within.

A newly formed notion joined the haze of thoughts swirling around in his brain: _bloodlust._ How long had he gone without blood? As the bouts of torturous shockwaves gave way to an unpleasant prickling sensation, he became aware that he could move without causing any worse effects, and hesitantly took a breath. The plethora of fragrances momentarily stunned him: he tasted the metallic tang of iron, damp mildew from stone walls, stale air recently disturbed and mixed with fresh, and – so strong that had he been standing he would have been bowled over by it – the sweet bouquet of blood pumping through a warm body mere feet away from him.

So close. So tempting.

Every instinct in his body screamed at him to lunge for the being foolish enough to stand so close to a starved vampire, but something made him halt. Elijah hadn't allowed himself to be ruled by his baser vampire instincts for over a thousand years. He was the epitome of restraint, master of his emotions, and with it came the need to control his environment as well.

Assess the situation. Maintain control to find the advantage.

Barely a minute had passed from the first physical sensations returning to his body, stemming from the removal of the dagger, to the present. He had come to the understanding that whoever had revived him was still at hand, and that the forthcoming explanation for his current state was more important that sating his need to feed.

As he raised himself to a sitting position and opened his eyes, he felt rather than saw the human retreating beyond a door. Glancing around, he saw that he was in a crude cell, his clothing in tatters around him, and judging from the smell it was fire that was the culprit.

He heard frantic whisperings outside the feeble door, and realized that the doppelganger was just outside, flanked by her customary Salvatores.

"What were you thinking?" a voice hissed, probably Damon. "Going in there _alone?_" So the girl still possessed her suicidal tendencies. No wonder they seemed to have revived him to request his help in defeating Klaus.

The tired bickering began again in earnest, but the part that grabbed his attention was when Damon mentioned something about Elena's father, "Uncle" John, being the one who should have taken the risk in entering the cell.

He knew, from the interactions at the ill-fated dinner party, than there was no love lost between John and anyone in town, so John being in on the planning was a new development. His own curiosity was satisfied when Stefan inquired as to what John had to do with anything. It was painfully clear, to Elijah at least, that Stefan had been left out of the loop. Apparently, Damon was plotting to use John to do the dangerous dirty work, leading to collateral damage that Stefan, desperately clinging to humanity, wouldn't abide by.

It came as a shock when he heard Damon say, "He can't be killed! Who better to wake up an evil vampire?" Evil? Now that just wasn't fair. But more importantly, a human who couldn't be killed?

"You can't just let the man be killed all the time-." Stefan's protests were nearly overridden by Elena's own outburst. "We're not hiding behind some ring. We need to face him." A ring that brought the wearer back to life – and multiple times at that? It must involve magic, and Elijah made a mental note to investigate.

"Relax! It was an idea, something to keep her out of that cell." An annoyed sigh came from Elena, likely from being talked about while she was clearly present. The dynamics of those relationships would be interesting at another time, but the more pressing matter was the fact that the elder Salvatore seemed to think Elena was safer on the _other _side of the door.

Elijah wasn't quite sure yet how this was going to play out, but he wanted to dispel the notion that they were safe _anywhere_. This marked the third time that their little group had been involved in his murder, and he wasn't sure that even the very best of explanations could stop him from taking his revenge. However, knowledge was power, and he was woefully in the dark about what had transpired while he was dead or in limbo, whatever it was. He wasn't even sure how long he had been out of commission.

"Speaking of facing him, where is he? Why isn't he waking up yet? Do you hear anything?"

Elijah stood and silently closed the distance to the door, losing most of the rest of his clothing in the process. His shoes were still mainly intact, and he wasn't sure if he looked more a fool with or without the black wingtips. He wished he could present a more formidable sight, but it would have to do for the moment. He had no change on his person, and there were no rocks in the room, so he decided to leave the shoes on for what he was about to do. Kicking the cell door clear off its hinges took far more energy than he would have liked to expend, but he felt it imperative to "make an entrance." The situation must have been desperate for them to come to him, but he wanted there be no illusion as to who was now in control.

Stunned silence – _finally_ – greeted him. The trio crept down the hall crowded over to the door with varying degrees of apprehension etched on their faces, which quickly changed to a wide-eyed gasp from Elena as she took in his state of undress. The blush that started to creep up her neck threatened to wreck havoc on his self-control, reminding him that he had certain needs that had to be dealt with. He never allowed himself to admit to needing anything badly, but _he really needed blood soon_.

Ignoring the brothers – he'd deal with them later, when he had the patience – he fixed a menacing stare at the human. "Elena. I trust you have explanations for why you not only murdered me, but also for why you chose to revive me." Stefan sucked in a breath and moved to edge in front of his girlfriend, but Elijah froze him in place with one glance. "My dear, I am waiting."

"I- I was hoping that we could talk?" She sounded so unsure of herself, a stark contrast from how she had been berating the Salvatores just a few moments before. She took a deep breath, and then rushed out, "Klaus is here. In town. He's been making people do all these things, and now they're dead and…" He voice trailed off, her eyes darting around wildly, whether from fear or his brazen nudity, he couldn't tell.

This was going nowhere. A raised eyebrow in Damon's direction granted Damon permission to speak. "What she's _trying _to say is that Klaus has been working us from behind the scenes for awhile. _All _of us." Damon returned the raised eyebrow with interest at that last part, making him look somewhat bug-eyed. Did neither of the Salvatores care about presenting a proper vampire image?

"Klaus frequently works from behind the scenes, but I fail to see how this time is any different. You knew he was coming to break the curse."

"Yeah, but did you know it was his plan to murder you? He gave his little minion the dagger and compelled her to trick us into taking you out." Elijah studied the younger vampire's face, searching for a hint of the lie he just uttered. Either Damon was better at lying than Elijah himself was, with far less practice, or he actually believed that Klaus had the dagger.

Damon seemed disinclined to continue, Stefan was carefully watching Elena's changing facial expressions, and the girl was still vacillating between looking scared, embarrassed, and defiant. Silence had fallen again while they waited for some reaction from him, while he was engrossed in thought.

A part of him had seriously considered killing the Salvatores – and Katerina, if he could find her – but this talk of Klaus and the dagger intrigued him. If what they said was in fact correct, then Klaus had taken an unprecedented step in actively planning to kill him, something he hadn't bothered with in the decades since their fallout. Why would he change his tactics all of a sudden?

Elijah decided that the conversation was worth pursuing to see what additional details he could uncover. He also needed to find out the truth about the dagger, and he had a suspicion that John Gilbert would prove helpful. Gilbert had come back into town just before the dinner party where the dagger resurfaced. He absentmindedly fiddled with his wrists, already missing the presence of his expensive silk shirtsleeves. He was going to have to rectify that immediately.

"We might as well be comfortable while we continue this discussion. It seems you have unique background on the situation, but you are woefully ignorant of certain aspects. Elena, you will need to call your father over to join us." Elena simply nodded as she edged sideways down the hall, her expression guarded as she took in his lack of violence so far and his request for John's presence.

Once she was out of human earshot, Elijah carefully studied Stefan and Damon's attire. He took so long that Stefan was on the verge of speaking when Elijah preempted him. "Damon, if you would be so kind, it seems that I'm in need of a new suit. It shouldn't be a problem for you. And Stefan, I could use some blood when we reconvene upstairs." Leaving the bewildered brothers behind without a chance to protest, Elijah strode upstairs, wondering how the hell he could salvage the situation without breaking a few limbs, or worse.


	4. Testing the Waters

**A/N: **I really enjoy writing Elijah, partly because the spell and grammar check on my computer calms down when he's narrating, but also because it's so easy to write him as a scheming BAMF. I tried not to make him too vicious in this chapter, but you guys be the judge of that. OMG indeed.

Just a reminder, all the action here takes place immediately after "Know Thy Enemy." This won't have any spoilers for tonight's episode, "The Last Day." And last but not least, thanks to **Haku2009 **for being my beta and reviewing this chapter.

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><p>He arrived upstairs to find Elena already off the phone, and standing a conspicuously obvious distance away from an end table where the dagger was laying. She took a deep breath at the sound of his arrival, and raising her chin she turned to look at him – and then averted her eyes as she realized he was still in a state of undress. Clearing his throat loudly, he captured her attention, although her eyes neither met his own nor traveled lower down his body than his collarbone.<p>

It could have been amusing, but he had seen far more interesting things in his existence than bashful 17-year olds. Thinking this would go a lot easier if he were clothed, he gestured at his own body, and then jabbed a finger at the stairs, conveying his meaning to her. She scampered off to procure some clothes, and perhaps work to control the blush creeping red-hot across her cheeks.

Damon came hurrying into the room, closely followed by Stefan, both of whom showed signs of questioning his ability to order them around. He was counting on it; tests such as the ones he gave the brothers would help to confirm in his mind the level of commitment they were prepared to offer. He didn't necessarily need trustworthy in all senses of the word, but he could do without their opposition.

"Is there anything you had trouble understanding downstairs?" Elijah demanded of them.

"Yeah, you really expect me to go shopping for you? Don't you have like, a personal assistant for that crap?" The way Damon was bristling proved that he had chosen correctly for this task. The vampire was frustrated, but the way he chose to handle it would help decide whether he was too volatile to trust with any important aspects of the plan Elijah was slowly forming.

"Any assistants I do have think I'm dead. So, you will have to do." A playful thought occurred to him. "Or you could loan me something of yours?"

"Like hell!" The reaction was just as he'd hoped. It would never happen anyways. There were many things enemies did not share, and vampires could get quite territorial.

"Damon, are you seriously antagonizing him right now?" Stefan asked in a clipped tone of voice.

Did they always talk _about _people like this, instead of to them? It was enough to drive any sane being crazy. Not to mention it was rude. Elijah was in a hurry to move on, and he hoped Damon would acquiesce soon.

Impatience was in the air, as Damon bit out, "Fine! I'll go. _Don't _make yourself at home." In what was meant to be a quiet aside, he muttered, "Stefan, watch him. This is just weird."

Damon blew out of the house, leaving the door quaking in its frame after he passed through, and Elijah finally allowed himself to think of the thirst that was slowly consuming him.

Seeing Stefan's empty hands, Elijah calmly remarked, "I had assumed you kept bags of blood in the basement."

"We do, but we're running low and haven't made a trip out in awhile. There've been…too many things going on." The shadowed look in his eyes made Elijah think he wouldn't be hearing any good news tonight.

"Then, I think the time might be right for another trip, wouldn't you say?"

"Yes, but what about Elena? She can't come, and I don't want to leave her alone."

Something in Stefan's eyes made him decide to be truthful, and explain himself in a way he hadn't done in quite some time. "I'm hoping to have a talk with Elena while you and Damon are gone. I fear she won't be honest if she knows you and Damon are listening. I give you my word, she will come to no harm while with me, and when you return we will discuss how to proceed as a group."

He didn't phrase it as a question, yet Stefan still answered it as such. "Sure, ok. Lemme just tell her-"

Elijah's hand on his arm cut him off. "You worry too much. Go, before I decide it'll be faster for me to go hunting."

Stefan finally left the house, though in a manner much calmer than his brother's. Elijah sighed, wondering how much energy he would allow himself to expend to keep the brothers at peace with each other before he snapped and compelled them to behave, like children. At least Stefan was willing to work with him, so far. Klaus wouldn't have cared, but Elijah had discovered over the years that people were more helpful when they believed there were in a partnership. And when they were left alive.

His thoughts were interrupted by shuffling that marked Elena's approach. By the sounds of it, she had traveled all the way up to the third floor for clothes. A minute later, she was descending the staircase with a cardboard box of assorted styles, which, at first glance, appeared to be from decades past.

Bringing the box over, she said, "Here, these should help. They were packed away upstairs." She sat down and occupied her time by studying the room around her. Surely, she noticed the absence of her favorite brothers? If she didn't, he was not about to point it out. He needed her focused so he could question her.

The box held far too many bright colors and patterns for his taste. He extracted black pants, and quickly slipped them on, briefly imagining the way Elena's face would relax in relief now that he was decent. Now it was time to get to the heart of the matter.

"As I gathered from your attempted explanation downstairs, Klaus has made his presence known by, quote, making people… do things," he deadpanned, buttoning up a black shirt. The material was cheap and scratched his neck, but the discomfort was mild compared to the memories of having the dagger plunged through his chest, so he let it slide. "This is hardly a solid foundation for planning against him. I need to know everything that has-"

Elijah cut himself off as he realized that she didn't seem to have taken in a word he had said. From her stiff, edge-of-her-seat posture on the couch, he could tell she was waiting for something. Perhaps she wanted her Salvatores nearby, just in case he decided to get violent. His need for information made him try to ease some of her nerves.

In an uncharacteristically soft voice, he informed her of the brothers' whereabouts. "Elena, Stefan and Damon are running a few errands for me. I'm not going to hurt you, and I'm not going to kill anyone." Why was he being so accommodating tonight? Perhaps it was a side effect of dying. One more reason not to go through death again. "I want to hear what's been going on from _you_, without you being interrupted all the time." She looked him straight in the eye for the first time that day, a growing expression of wonder displayed across her face.

"I'm sorry for what I did. It's just this curse… I'm doing things I never thought I'd do. Lying to almost everyone important to me, preparing for my own death, _killing _someone." She shook her head slowly before continuing, "I'm not Katherine. I don't _like _hurting people, and I'm sorry I hurt you."

He felt the corner of his mouth involuntarily twitch at her comparison to her doppelganger. "Apology accepted." He crossed one leg as leaned back in the armchair, relaxing slightly, and motioned at her to do the same.

Seeing his relaxed posture and having her apology accepted worked wonders for Elena's mood. She let out a quick giggle, and joked, "I should probably apologize for those clothes, too. I got them from storage upstairs. There's a lot of 60s memorabilia up there I was looking though, because there's a school dance coming up. Um, but you don't care about that. So, do we still have a deal?"

"Which deal might that be?"

"The um, the most recent one," she said, with a "you know" hand motion.

"You mean the one made right after you stabbed yourself? I believe I was coerced into accepting those terms. That deal is void."

"But we can negotiate a new one," she said confidently.

"We will…_after_ I hear about what's happened while I was incapacitated." He prompted her to return to the topic. "Now, what has Klaus done?"

He listened carefully, letting her speak without in to her tale of betrayals and compulsion, and a few things stuck out to him. Firstly, Klaus had apparently acquired the art of finesse sometime in the last few centuries. His usual methodology was straightforward, centered on killing everyone who stood in his way, and taking what he wanted. When his paranoia increased, he began sending vampires and witches out to do his bidding, but the result was still the same. Playing upon peoples' weaknesses and using their relationships against them had always been in Elijah's repertoire, but Klaus had obviously borrowed a few pages.

The other thing Elijah noticed was just how easily the whole lot of them was misled. The Salvatores wouldn't have survived so long if they kept their guard this low, so he assumed that it was Elena's idea to accept help from the likes of Katarina and Isobel.

When she paused in the retelling of her birth mother's death, he noted the tightening of the muscles of her throat and rapid blinking that signaled she was working to keep her emotions in check. Of course, she had proven that she could be as hard as steel when needed, and he knew to never again underestimate her.

Elijah further learned that he was right in suspecting that "Uncle" John played a role in the whole ordeal. What _was_ surprising was finding out that Elena had accepted him into her good graces. Finally breaking his silence, he said to Elena, "When we discussed the protection of your loved ones, John never entered into the equation. What's changed to make you regard him as one now?"

"It's…complicated. The easy answer is that he's the only parent I have left. It would be selfish and petty to deny a relationship with him, when I probably won't make it through the sacrifice."

The day of emotional highs and lows had started to take its toll on her. She was showing signs of fatigue: her eyelids drooped, her voice took on a gravelly quality the longer she talked, and she was slumped on the arm of the couch – a striking comparison to her earlier rigidity. "Is there anything in the kitchen here for some coffee? You look like you could use some," he said. It would provide the perk she needed in order to hash out their new deal, and distract her from the arrival of one of the Salvatores. Whichever one it was had impeccable timing; Elijah could hear the car coming up the drive.

"You drink coffee?" She looked puzzled for some reason. Elijah considered why she could possibly be confused; he thought she and Stefan were close. Hadn't he told her anything about vampirism?

"Of course. You know that vampires can eat and drink regularly, yes?"

"Wha- yeah, I know! I just didn't know what _you_ liked to eat. I guess I really could use some coffee, huh? I'll be right back." She started to walk away, then whirled around once she was halfway across the room. "I'm so sorry! I didn't ask if you wanted any."

He smiled at the previously frightened girl, the doppelganger sacrifice, who was now worried that she had offended him by not offering a cup of coffee.

"Thank you. I'll take a cup; black, please."

She made it to the kitchen this time, and Elijah wandered to the entranceway to meet Damon. He doubted the more responsible Stefan would fishtail into the driveway, blaring classic rock through the stereo system. A wicked grin spread over Elijah's face as Damon came through the door with a shopping bag from a local discount store and stopped dead in his tracks, obviously taking in Elijah's fully clothed appearance.

The grin stretched even wider as Damon's mouth narrowed into a hard line. "You didn't expect me to remain naked while you were out, did you?"

Damon positively exploded, "Then what the hell did I go shopping for?" He shoved the shopping bag into Elijah's chest hard enough to crush a human's ribs.

Damon was suddenly pressed up against the wall by his throat, the motion too fast even for his vampire senses to notice. Elijah's grin vanished from his face. He leaned close to Damon's ear and growled, "You went shopping because _I told you to._ You are in no position to question me, Damon. As I've said before, you will remain alive so long as you prove useful to me."

Elijah released his neck and roughly threw him towards the sitting area as he ordered, "Have a seat. Stefan will be right back, and we will assess the situation once John Gilbert arrives."

The younger vampire still showed signs of hesitation, and protested, "St. Stefan left Elena here alone with you? Where is she? What did you do to her?" He made to zoom into Elijah's personal space again.

Elijah thought it wise to make his point unequivocally now, so he could prevent being questioned again in the future. Further interruptions would prove to be tedious and only serve to delay their agenda. _His _agenda.

Without warning, his foot connected with Damon's kneecap, shattering the patella and twisting the ligaments uselessly out of place. Damon groaned and collapsed onto the couch. "I believe I told you to sit down," Elijah remarked coldly. He continued in a bored voice, "Trust me, I will not tolerate your disrespect. If it continues… let's just say that you will be reacquainted with your dear flamethrower. Do you understand me?"

Damon glared at Elijah, but remained quiet. His glare turned sullen when Elena came and delivered Elijah's coffee before curling up on the couch and giving Damon a warm smile.

"What's the matter with you?" she directed at Damon between sips of the steaming drink.

"Ah, just waiting on dear Stefan. We could get started without him!"

Elijah smiled to himself in pleasure as Damon shifted on the couch, trying to get the weight off his knee. He knew no force on earth could make a vampire – especially one as temperamental as Damon – admit to an injury and show weakness.

Damon must have been too busy hiding the pain from his knee to notice the sounds of two distinct engines pull up to the house. "No need," Elijah informed them. "Stefan has returned, and John Gilbert is just behind him. They'll be joining us shortly."

"Good, I want to know how John fits into all this," Elena said, emerging once again above the rim of her coffee mug. Elijah rose to refill her mug, earning a little smile of pleasure from Elena, and a look of suspicion from Damon.

He was not gone for long, and when he returned, Stefan was waiting in the living room with four bags of blood on the table. Handing the ceramic mug off to Elena, he picked up a bag and began to drink. Years of caution had taught him never to appear too eager for anything, lest it be used as leverage against him, but he reasoned that dying could constitute an exception, and he quickly downed the bag.

The idle chitchat was broken up by the arrival of John Gilbert, as he called into the house for Elena. She answered, "We're in the living room, John!"

"What's the big emergency, Elena?" Whatever John was expecting, the look on his face made it plain that it most assuredly was _not _meeting a revived Elijah sitting calmly in the midst of those who had killed him.

Elijah regarded the man with a nod and said, "John," by way of greeting. John could only stand in the doorway, dumbstruck. It wasn't the usual reaction Elijah received from those who knew his true nature, but there was something amusing about a grown man gaping at him like a bad cartoon character.

Damon broke the small silence. "Hey Gilbert. Nice of you to show up." Turning to the rest of the group, he said, with a hint of his usual swagger, "So, can we get this party started?"


End file.
